Dennis Haskins, the actor best known for portraying Principal Richard Belding on Saved by the Bell, has died at 75. TMZ reported the news on September 28, citing Haskins’ longtime agent Jay Schachter, who described the actor as both a beloved performer and a genuinely kind person.
Schachter said Haskins had an especially strong connection with the show’s audience
. “He was a great person, and he loved, I mean absolutely LOVED his fans,”
Schachter told TMZ. The actor’s cause of death has not been disclosed.
Dennis Haskins Became a TV Icon as Mr. Belding
Haskins became widely recognized through Saved by the Bell, where he played Principal Richard Belding, the strict but caring head of Bayside High. His frequent attempts to control Zack Morris and his classmates became one of the sitcom’s recurring sources of comedy.
The character was particularly known for his memorable
“Hey, hey, hey, what is going on here?”
catchphrase. Haskins continued playing Mr. Belding in Saved by the Bell: The College Years and Saved by the Bell: The New Class.
Beyond the franchise, Haskins maintained a long career in television and film, becoming a familiar character actor to audiences throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Schachter, who represented Haskins for more than two decades, also remembered his client’s generosity toward fans. “He always had time for them, no matter what,” he said, adding that Haskins was his “client and dear friend” and that he would “miss him terribly.”
Haskins’ performance as Mr. Belding helped make the character one of the most recognizable adults in the Saved by the Bell universe, leaving him closely associated with one of television’s most recognizable teen sitcoms.